All the things you weren't taking into account when I wasn't around....

Friday, June 29, 2007

Flight Attendants

In movies, flight attendants of the early boom of flying were always attractive young women in a very specific style of uniform. With the more casual standards of dress in American business and changing attitudes towards women and perhaps even to the job of flight attendant (shown perhaps by the fact that I haven't once used the word "stewardess"), that stereotype is no longer true.

Walking through an American air terminal, you may recognize a flight attendant by the determined walk, wheeled black weekend bag, generic navy uniform or plethora of official looking IDs. So it was like a fun exercise in yesteryear for us to walk through Seoul-Incheon International where Asian carriers dominate and there were groups of identically, impeccably clad stewardesses (yes, they were all young, pretty and female) in the colors of their airline.

Lisa and I discussed the difference and decided that different attitudes towards men and women and the workplace between the East and the West were probably at the root of the difference and while it probably strikes a blow for feminism, we both liked the friendlier service of the Asian carriers...